Current Events

Dec 01, 2001

New York-based event company Paint the Town Red has added Webcasting to its in-house services in response to a cutback in business travel. Company president Howard Givner speculated that “some of [the cutback] is economically motivated, some is terrorist motivated,” and cited major banks as one client group that is restricting employee trips.

With Webcasting, Givner said, businesses can conduct a meeting in a central location and make the proceedings available to off-site employees either as a live-view or on-demand service. Remote employees need only Internet access to view or download the meeting, and can ask questions via e-mail or by phone. “Webcasting is really good in ‘one-to-many’ distribution,” Givner explained, adding that it is an attractive alternative for small to mid-size companies that may not have designated IT departments or videoconferencing capabilities.

Givner cautioned that despite its benefits, Webcasting can't take the place of person-to-person meetings in many circumstances. For client visits, trade shows, sales incentive trips and other revenue-related situations, live participation will continue to be the best method, he insisted. “But if you've got a company working on a new policy that they've got to disseminate to people,” he said, “that's a really good candidate for this kind of thing.”

Chicago-based JRDaggett & Associates and Durham, N.C.-based Professional Meeting Planners Network have paired up to provide full-service meeting management and support services. Jeff Rasco, senior vice president of meeting management and consultation firm JRDA, said the alliance emerged out the friendship and shared vision of three key figures including himself, JRDA president Jim Daggett and Rod Abraham, president of meeting planner resource PMPN.

As demand for return on investment continues to grow, “we all have to optimize productivity at every level,” Daggett said. “We've added hundreds of highly qualified and experienced planners to our team through this alliance.”

“In uncertain times, organizations are trying to regain their grasp on normalcy,” Rasco explained. “There has been a collective gasp, and now it is time to move forward. But there is more internal focus than before. How should we manage this event? Should it happen at all? Can we accomplish our goals through other methods?” The alliance between JRDA and PMPN will provide organizations with both meeting planners and ROI experts — “as large or small a team of specialists as needed” — and stand as “a model of the value of meetings and efficient management,” he added.